Cousino High grad jailed after going near her ex-CMU roommate, violating bond

Central Michigan University student Kayla Ashlyn Bonkowski, leaves the Isabella County courtroom in tears after Isabella County Circuit Court Judge Mark H. Duthie, ruled that she be held in contempt of court after violating the tems of her bond on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. Bonkowski is accused of poisoning her roommate in Nov. 2012. (Sun photo by ANDREW KUHN)

Former Central Michigan University student Kayla Ashlyn Bonkowski, charged with poisoning her sorority roommate, broke bond conditions by going to a popular Mt. Pleasant nightspot and being in the same place as her alleged victim, an Isabella County judge ruled.

A sobbing Bonkowski, a graduate of Cousino High School, exchanged quick expressions of love with her parents and boyfriend before being swiftly escorted out a side courtroom door and into the Isabella County Jail just after noon Tuesday.

Three witnesses, including one called by defense attorney Todd Levitt, all testified that Bonkowski was at the Wayside bar on the evening of Jan. 8.

“For the life of me, I don’t understand why you came up here and made the decision to go inside the bar,” Trial Court Judge Mark Duthie said.

Advertisement

Bonkowski, who has withdrawn from CMU and enrolled at Macomb Community College, had been ordered to stay away from anyplace that serves alcohol; she was also told not be within 100 feet of her former roommate.

She drove to Mt. Pleasant from her Sterling Heights home that night to see her boyfriend, a CMU student.

“Until the dust settles, you just aren’t getting it and you’re going to be held until we figure out where this case is going,” Duthie said.

Bonkowski faces a settlement conference Wednesday, the last step to work a plea agreement before trial.

She is accused of putting bleach in her roommate’s drink on Nov. 11 after an apparent spat over dirty dishes. In a written statement describing the incident for police. Bonkowski also said her roommate is mean,” according to court records.

Bonkowski’s victim was the first to testify.

“I was in the area by the pool tables with my friends, and I saw her,” she said. “I didn’t know what to do, so I asked my friends and they said I should call the police.”

Bonkowski’s boyfriend, who said he coaxed her to the Wayside that night and paid her cover charge, gave a similar account, with the main difference being the amount of time she was in the bar.

Witnesses called by Mark Kowalczyk, principal trial attorney for Isabella County, said they saw Bonkowski at the bar several times between roughly 11:15 p.m. that night and 1 a.m. the next morning.

But her boyfriend, William Settle, a CMU sophomore, said Bonkowski was in the bar no more than 20 minutes.

“She had seen members of her previous sorority and she didn’t feel comfortable,” Settle said. “I walked her to the door. She was there 15 to 20 minutes tops.“

In ordering her jailed, Duthie ruled that Bonkowski had intentionally entered a bar, and that whether or not she knew her alleged victim was there, or how close they were together that night, didn’t matter since being in a bar was a violation itself.

Bonkowski is charged with poisoning of food or water, a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.